How to Ensure the Accuracy and Integrity of Your Financial Analysis

While there is absolutely no shortage of financial data available these days, savvy financial analysts know that quantity doesn’t necessarily equal quality. The financial data your company relies on for analysis and reporting is worth very little if it is not accurate and reliable. Whether you’re collecting market capitalization data, compiling your quarterly SEC filings, or preparing reports to provide to your board or investors, you need to be sure the tools and processes you’re using to collect and report information preserve the integrity of your data.

Getting to an end result that is credible and accurate can be particularly challenging when financial teams are at capacity and processes are inefficient. Often times, reducing the hours it takes to create reports from financial data comes at the expense of quality.

Further clouding the accuracy and reliability of your financial data is the fact that different members of your team may rely on different methods of collecting and reporting it. To that end, streamlining and automating related processes is crucial to the organization. Training of the appropriate people in on consistent reporting practices is the best way to ensure that the information being distributed is accurate and reliable.

Consistency in data collection doesn’t mean complacency, however. There are many valuable data sets available that can benefit your company when it comes to analyzing investment opportunities, preparing SEC filings, or collecting simple market capitalization data.

Today, data goes far beyond generally accepted accounting practices (GAAP). Non-GAAP data, financial and non-financial, when used according to guidelines, can serve your company well in rounding out the picture to tell the most complete story of your industry. Deeper data includes things like SEC comment letters, MD&A disclosures, company earnings statements, and other data that adds a deeper layer to your reporting.

Overcoming the Challenges

The best way to address and overcome the challenges around preserving the integrity of your financial data is to implement a dynamic financial analysis software platform. The platform you’re relying on should offer a deep view of your industry and the market, and it should also provide a close and honest view of your own business. The diverse datasets mentioned above will be invaluable to your company in terms of insight into your business landscape.

The ability for your team to collaborate easily through the use of accurate and reliable data that is accessible and shareable across your organization is invaluable, as well. The efficiencies gained and confidence realized from a dynamic platform that supports data integrity in and improves timeliness of your financial reports will abate innumerable frustrations and become an essential tool for your financial team.

Cut out the noise and cut to the chase

When it comes to the need for reliable and accurate data, you must drown out the noise of the endless streams of data available to you and focus on the streamlining of the processes that efficiently and accurately get you the data you need and will best serve your company.

If you’d like to learn more about the benefits dynamic financial data software, idaciti can help. Our platform is helping accounting and finance professionals ensure that their financial analysis are accurate and will contribute to their company’s credibility for the long-term.